And you wonder why he and others feel the need to protest the national anthem.

There are a lot of people in this country who cannot abide the idea of an NFL player protesting the national anthem. To them, it doesn't matter that the right to protest is embedded in our nation's DNA. No, to them patriotism is a religion, the national anthem is its hymn, and anyone who expresses misgivings about our nation is a heretic, blaspheming their god. One such NFL star who has protested the national anthem and come under criticism is Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett. This morning, Bennett wrote a powerful and heartbreaking letter that shows exactly why he and others have felt the need to protest.

Bennett's story begins at the Mayweather-McGregor fight two weeks ago. After the fight, Bennett was walking back to his hotel when the sound of gunshots rang out. Bennett, like the hundreds of other people heading back to their hotels, began running. After all, running away is typically a good thing to do when you hear gunshots. That's when things went sideways. Bennett writes that as he was running away...

Las Vegas police officers singled me out and pointed their guns at me
for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong
place at the wrong time.

A police officer ordered me to get on the ground. As I laid on the
ground, complying with his commands to not move, he placed his gun
near my head and warned me that if I moved he would "blow my fucking
head off." Terrified and confused by what was taking place, a second
officer came over and forcefully jammed his knee into my back making
it difficult for me to breathe. They then cinched the handcuffs on my
wrists so tight that my fingers went numb.

Let's put this as clearly as it can be put: Michael Bennett was assumed to be dangerous because of the color of his skin, and therefore police officers felt like they had the right to threaten to murder him. Period. Bennett's entire letter is worth reading, but as a white person, I say this to other white people: Just because something isn't your experience doesn't mean it's not happening. When people say Black Lives Matter, they're not saying that white people's lives don't. They're not saying that cops' lives don't. They're saying that in addition to those groups WHOSE LIVES ARE ALREADY TREATED LIKE THEY MATTER, black lives matter, too.

So next time a football player decides to protest the national anthem, remember that for all of the good things that song represents for you, for many it represents moments like the one that happened to Michael Bennett in Las Vegas and countless other moments where innocent black people weren't fortunate to be Michael Bennett, NFL star, whom the cops released upon realizing their mistake. Tamir Rice. Rekia Boyd. Philando Castile. Eric Garner. Respect for a song doesn't matter more than their lives.